


Bitter chocolate

by gekidasa



Category: Kamen Rider Kabuto
Genre: M/M, Pining, Superior/Subordinate, happy carefree Zect days, perfect harmony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 03:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20499992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gekidasa/pseuds/gekidasa
Summary: Kageyama daydreamed more often than a Zect Trooper, much less a member of Shadow, really should. He daydreamed about many different things, but often about Yaguruma. Those were the daydreams he didn't dare acknowledge, the ones he buried deepest, and also the ones he indulged in most often.





	Bitter chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> I found a whole stash of Kamen Rider fic I never posted. This one was from 2012.

Kageyama daydreamed more often than a Zect Trooper, much less a member of Shadow, really should. He daydreamed about many different things; being chosen to use the rumored Masked Rider System when it was finally finished, for instance. Or about his life before the meteor, and about what it might have been like if it had never happened, if he hadn't lost his family. Sometimes, he even daydreamed about Yaguruma's mapo tofu, and he wouldn't have been surprised to find out that that wasn't particularly unusual among the Shadow ranks.

And other times, he simply daydreamed about Yaguruma. More than any of the others, those were the daydreams he didn't dare acknowledge, the ones he buried deepest, and also the ones he indulged in most often.

Like that particular day, which happened to be Valentine's. He was sitting in the park, enjoying a free afternoon people-watching, and found his thoughts wandering towards Yaguruma as he watched couples come and go, happy to be together. Kageyama watched the girls give chocolates to the guys they were with, unaware of the wistful expression shadowing his features, until he found himself thinking that he would like to be able to do what those girls were doing. A box of chocolates for the one they liked, no explanation necessary. It was understood. It was okay. He would have liked to do the same. No explanation, no excuses, just present a box of chocolates to Yaguruma. He leaned back on the park bench, staring up at the sky and shielding his eyes from the light with one hand.

_ "What would he do if I did it?" _

A year ago, he wouldn't have dared to even entertain the question. Yaguruma was his idol and his captain, and although he seemed fond of the youngest trooper ever to be accepted into Shadow, surely he wouldn't welcome or appreciate it if Kageyama made the nature of his feelings clear. Or so Kageyama had assumed, back then. Things had changed a little since, to the point where Kageyama questioned some of the assumptions he'd always made about the leader of Shadow, most notably the ones about how he would react if he were to find out how Kageyama felt. Although Yaguruma had never done or said anything that might indicate any specific, some might say _questionable_, interest in Kageyama, sometimes, more often of late, Kageyama would look up and find Yaguruma watching him. He would meet and hold Kageyama's gaze, and for just a second, there was nothing else, just Yaguruma's dark eyes, betraying nothing, but at the same time saying just as much with what they hid.

Kageyama wasn't sure what it meant, except that perhaps Yaguruma wouldn't be surprised or displeased by the idea of Kageyama giving him chocolates. Maybe.

Except he couldn't do it, of course. It wouldn't have been appropriate. Kageyama was a member of Shadow, and Yaguruma was his captain, and that fact conditioned everything. To make an open display would be against regulations, it would bring shame on them both and on Shadow, and Kageyama wouldn't, couldn't do that. The world needed Zect, Zect needed Shadow, and Shadow needed Yaguruma.

Kageyama let out a long sigh as he straightened on the park bench. There was no use indulging in daydreams, in entertaining possibilities that could never be.

He got up from the bench, and started making his way back to Shadow's headquarters.

[...]

Yaguruma arrived at his quarters after supper to find a small box containing a single piece of dark, rich chocolate sitting on the desk by his bed. He hadn't locked his door because these were Shadow's headquarters; so there was no way to tell who might have slipped in and left the chocolate there. His first thought was that it must be a good-natured joke by some of the senior members of the unit... until he remembered that Kageyama had been slightly late to supper that evening.

His lips quirked slightly and he shook his head ruefully, wondering if Kageyama really thought he wouldn't figure out he'd been the one that had left the chocolate, or if he was in fact sending a silent message. Probably the former, Yaguruma thought fondly.

He wouldn't acknowledge that he knew, or even mention the incident. Not only was there no point in doing so, it could also draw attention to things he didn't want to bring attention to, things he would never actually admit to. But nevertheless, that night, as he lay back on the narrow, standard-issue Zect bed, the faint taste of bitter chocolate still on his lips, Yaguruma found himself wondering what it would be like if everything were to change, if he found himself in a world where it was okay to acknowledge that Kageyama wasn't simply a very promising subordinate, and that there were other reasons why he wanted to keep him close.

The bitter taste of dark chocolate was gone from Yaguruma's mouth the next morning, and when he met Kageyama's eyes during morning training he gave no indication that he knew, and much less of the stray thoughts he'd had before drifting off to sleep.


End file.
